[From Proc IoMNH&ASoc vol 3]

By W. CUBBON.

Retiring President's Address, 17 April, 1926.

This is our 47th annual general meeting, and in three years we will celebrate the jubilee of the Society. The present position must be very gratifying to our Founder, Mr. P. M. C. Kermode. We have a larger membership, and consequently a bigger income, than we have ever had; but I would plead for more active interest. We each should, in some way, contribute something to the Society, and thus help to make it a more useful and permanent force. I have the honour of being the 38th President I believe. I am quite conscious that I have fallen short of the standard set by the able, and in many cases, distinguished men who have filled the chair before me. But I have tried to do my utmost, and you have kindly overlooked my shortcomings.

The subject of my address this afternoon is 'Early Schools and Scholarship in Mann.'

THE CELTIC PERIOD.

The first period in the literary history of Mann is prior to the seventh century, when there was no political separation between Ireland and Mann. The divisions of the Gaelic people of Ireland, Alban, and Mann were then regulated by race rather than by the accident of geographical position. 'The Gael everywhere were united by common origin and ties of race; and those of Alban as well as those of Mann owned the supremacy of the Ardrigh in Ireland. The communication between each was free and unrestrained until the coming of the Norsemen in the ninth and tenth centuries.

In this first period our language was identical with that of Ireland, our folklore and music, our mythology and customs; our place-names and family names, our land divisions and tribal system were similar; our political system ; in fact; our entire civilisation was practically the same as that of Ireland.

It is necessary to point out the essential unity of the sea-divided Celts of the Middle Ages. In the great Cuchulainn . epic and in the Finn and Ossian Saga, Mann enjoyed a Romance cycle as well as Ireland and Scotland.

The stories of our Manannan mac Lir and our Finn mac Cumhaill are not only common in Ireland, but in Wales also.

All branches of the Celts appear to have had their Gods in common. (1)

The story of Blathnat, princess of Mann, has been lost in her own country, but is preserved by Ireland in the Book of Leinster:(2) She is part of the great epic of Cuchulainn. In the Book of Leinster is told ' The Siege of the Men of Falga.' Falga, meaning ' noble,' was an old name of the Isle of Man. The siege against it was by the men of Ulster, with Cuchulainn at their head, and Blathnat, Princess of Mann, eloped: with him.

St. Patrick, St. Brigid, and the early Christians of the fifth century spent much of their time and labour in the conversion of pagans and the building of churches. St. Columba, on the other hand, stands out almost as conspicuously as St. Patrick himself as missionary, scribe, scholar and school founder. He with St. Ciaran, St. Finnian, and St. Brendan and many others gave themselves up to the foundation of monastic institutions and the conduct of the schools.(8)

By the middle of the sixth century Ireland had been amply supplied with schools,and monasteries belonging to the Christian community, and books had multiplied to a marvellous extent, while, through the influence of St. Columba, Iona, which later was included in the diocese of Sodor and Mann, had won for itself a unique place in the world of scholarship.

Whether the Saints I have mentioned or others contemporary with them ever laboured in Mann we cannot now tell. St. Macutus (our Maughold) certainly did. At any rate they have left their visible traces in Mann, where the remains of numerous keeills and the lingering of their names show where their followers prayed and taught.

As to St. Columba, we know that at least one church was dedicated to him, and in the 16th century a family named Mac Gilcalm (viz., the son of the servant of Columb) had land not far away from our Church of St. Columb, now called Kirk Arbory.

Saint Columba, solacing himself when leaving the shores of Aran Isle, mentions Mann as if he were just about to visit it :—

' How far, alas! how far, alas!
Have I to pass from Ara's view,
To mix with men from Mona's fen,
With men from Alba's mountains blue.' (4)

A very celebrated school was that of Bangor on Belfast Lough, founded by Comgall, the friend of St. Columba, between 550 and 560. It was crowded with scholars, and, next to Armagh, was the greatest school of the northern province.

Jocelin, Abbot of Rushen in the 12th century, called it 'a fruitful vine, breathing the odour of salvation, whose off-shoots extended not only over all Ireland, but far beyond the seas into foreign countries, and filled many lands with its abounding fruitfulness.' (5)

From the 6th to the 9th centuries Ireland held aloft the torch of learning and procured for herself the honourable title of the Island of Saints and Scholars; and it is not too much to claim that Mann had at least some part and lot in her schools, her learning, and literature.

The earliest piece of testimony extant showing the close kinship of the Irish and Manx people is in the 7th century story related by Cormac in his Glossary about a visit paid to Mann by Senchan Torpeist, who was Head Ollamh or Chief Poet of Ireland from A.D. 649 to 662. Senchan, it is stated, was accompanied on this visit by fifty poets as his retinue, besides students. On their arrival in the Island the first person they saw was an old woman gathering seaweed, who asked them who they were. After receiving their reply she gave them a couplet of verse and challenged them to cap it with a corres- ponding couplet, which one of their number did.(6)

It will be apparent that the beginnings of scholarship in Mann are very remote, and that they developed on parallel lines with Ireland. We may have been in a backwater, where only the fainter wash of the larger currents reached; but it undoubtedly did reach us.

THE COMING OF THE NORSEMEN.

In the ninth century Ireland and Mann were shaken from shore to shore with ever recurring alarms by the coming of the Scandinavians, and the people lived in a state of terror. Numbers of invaluable books were destroyed by them; and sacred shrines and gold and silver treasures were carried off; learning was made well-nigh impossible.

In the tenth century the Kingdom of Mann and the Isles, which likewise embraced the western seaboard of the Highlands, interposed itself between the Highlands and Ireland; and the influence of Ireland as a Christian civilizing power was paralysed, while the indigenous and native Christian church in Mann and the Hebrides must have been almost wiped out.

THE SCHOLARSHIP OF THE MONKS.

Every monastery in the Middle Ages was more or less a place in which reading and writing were cultivated, and was an active centre of literary work. Oral literature, handed down by many generations of bards and story tellers, was first written down in the monasteries; and we have in the Chronicle of Rushen Abbey, compiled by the monks there in the 13th and 14th centuries, an example of this, the only one of many books which has escaped destruction.

This precious Chronicle is a clear evidence that the monks of Rushen Abbey were scholars. We have sufficient evidence to believe that there was a school of learning there, where the scholars were taught Latin and the rules of Christianity, in addition to the arts of peace as applied to agriculture.

SCHOLARSHIP OF THE CROSSES.

The evidences of Celtic literature are also disclosed on our stone monuments. Before the sixth century the Irish invented a system of writing peculiar to themselves, simple and ingenious, called the Ogam script. Over 200 stones have been found with Ogam writing in Ireland, 30 in Wales and Devonshire, and 10 in Scotland. There are nine in the Isle of Man: quite a large number in comparison with the whole.

Then came the period of Scandinavian Runes, and here, again, we have many Manx examples, indicating that we had scholars well versed in this script; indeed, there are forms of runes which are characteristically Manx.

There are about 120 stone crosses in the Island, dating from the introduction of Christianity to the 13th century. One hundred and twenty pieces, and not more than two or three can be assigned to any one hand. The inscriptions are in Celtic ogams, Scandinavian runes, and in Latin characters.

Mr. Kermode says: ' The Isle of Man, for many years, ' produced a local form of decorative art equal in originality, in purity of feeling, and skill in execution to any Celtic, Hiberno-Saxon, or any similar art to be met with in the surrounding lands.'

Romilly Allen remarks that ' The Isle of Man probably possesses a larger number of Early Christian sculptures than any other portion of Great Britain having an equal geographical area.'(8)

A few of the older pieces exhibit Scripture scenes, and one, the unique eighth century Crucifixion from the Calf of Mann, is an example of pure Byzantine art. It is believed by Mr. Kermode that the artist who carved this stone must have derived his inspiration directly from oriental sources. As the feet of the Christ are exactly as represented in the Book of Kells, it is very likely he had been familiar with that and other ancient books and with Celtic art generally. Mr. Romilly Allen says: ' it is executed with a delicacy excelling that to be found on any other piece of sculpture of the same period.'

The remains of the literature of the Monastic Church which have come down to us bear ample testimony to the scholarship of the monks. In the 8th century there appears in the monasteries a functionary termed in Irish Scribhnidh (in Manx Scrieudeyr) and in Latin Scriba, a learned man amongst the monks, who was (according to Skene(9)) selected for the purpose, not only of transcribing and preserving the ancient records of the monastery, but likewise of exercising the functions of teacher and lecturer.

On a 9th century slab found at Keeill Varkish, 'St. Mark's Chapel,' in Kirk Bride, there is shown a Celtic cross, with the Agnus Dei, and a number of interesting figures with decorative work. The inscriptions are in Latin characters, and include the words Maborai scriba. Maborai was the scribe who carved the stone, and the 'scriba' shows his position in the monastery and explains the decorative work on the stone. This slab is of peculiar interest and bears upon our subject of scholarship. It is of the early part of the 9th century, a period when those who were given the name 'scriba' wrote such things as the precious Book of Armagh, Tirechan's 'Life of St. Patrick,; and so on.

Maborai was an expert scribe, for, as Mr. Kermode says, 'his decorative work is more like scribblings on the margin of MSS. than any carving on stone.' Mr. Kermode's concluding reference to this interesting monument is: 'Probably both the scribe and those commemorated belonged to. the same monastic 'family,' and the latter would be clerics serving in succession in the same Keeill Varkish.'

In the 12th and 13th centuries we have illustrations from the old Norse myths, with classical Northern stories, and figures of the gods, Odin, Thor, Sigurd and Heimdall, and of giants, dwarfs and monsters. These inscribed crosses are links with the scholarship of the monks who laboured at the Monastery of Rushen, and with those at Inis Patrick, at the Priory of the Nunnery, and at Kirk Maughold. They are our only contemporary records of those dark centuries and are now a precious heritage.

We are now able, if we take the trouble to go to our parish churchyards, to examine the actual handiwork of Gaut the son of Bjiorn of Cooiley, of Thorid, of Arni, of Juan of Cornadale, of Osruth, of Maborai the Scribe of Ballavarkish, and others whose skilled fingers have crumbled into dust more than a thousand years ago.

The men who designed and wrought the beautiful monuments in Mann were, of course, scholars. It was not until the 13th to the 15th centuries that the ancient Scandinavian legends came to be written in Iceland, a country far removed from ours; but we have clear evidence that some of these great

Northern stories were pictured upon the Manx stone monuments long before. This astonishing fact throws a significant light upon the development of the prose epic among people who were kin but in two widely separated countries.

In this connection, Mr. A. W. Moore declares that Manx Celts appeared to have emigrated in large numbers to Iceland, and it is possible, he says, that they 'had their share in developing the prose epic or saga, the noblest form of Northern literature.'

This form of scholarship may be accentuated by reference to the 12th century Mal Lumkun Cross at Kirk Michael, on which is inscribed the proverb ' Better is it to leave a good foster-son than a bad son.' While referring to proverbs, I might interpolate here a translation of a Manx Gaelic proverb, which is certainly very old: ' Learning is fine clothes of the rich man, and it is riches for the poor man.'

JOHN THE PRIEST OF CORNADALE.

Before the monks of Rushen commenced their Chronicle, John the Priest of Cornadale, Kirk Maughold, taught his pupils the art of writing, in the 13th century. He is probably our earliest recorded schoolmaster. He cut two remarkable slabs. The first invokes, in runic characters, ' Christ, Malachi, Patrick, (and) Adamnan'; and further declares But of all the sheep is John (the) Priest in Cornadale.' The second slab has inscribed upon it:
1. ' John (the) Priest cut these runes.'
2. The Runic alphabet.
3- The Ogam alphabet.

John the Priest was a Gall-Gael, a Norse-Manxman; he used the two languages, and had a literary knowledge of both. The second slab must have been intended by him as a permanent 'copy ' of the runic and the ogam alphabets for the use of his students at Kirk Maughold, for it was at that church that it was found.

There is a 12th century slab in Kirk Michael on which also has been inscribed the ogam alphabet. This slab might, as in the case of John the Priest, have been used by a schoolmaster as a 'copy' for his students. The alphabet on the Kirk Michael stone is in bind-ogams, in the order as set forth in what is called ' The Scholars' Primer' in the Book of Bally- mote. A point of additional interest is that on this monument there is, amongst other carvings, the representation of a man seated playing a harp, in front of which a robed figure is holding out a drinking horn. Mr. Kermode is of the opinion that ' This must be one of the Valkyriur making an offering 'to Bragi, God of Poetry and Inspiration.'

From the time of the death of King Magnus of Man, in 1265, to the grant of the Island to Sir John Stanley, in 1405, was a dismal period in Manx history. Although it was frequently plundered, there were still some treasures in the form of writings left, for Bishop Russell, in the synodal ordinances issued by him in 1350, ordained that 'the altars must be properly furnished with books, a chalice of silver or gold. But the church and all its books must be kept clean and decent.'

THE UNREAD STONE.

There is at Kirk Andreas a stone of the 10th or 11th century, which has an inscription in runic characters not yet deciphered. This is owing to the involved character of the bind-runes, each character representing two or more runes. Here is an opportunity for the P. M. C. Kermodes of the coming generation.

THE PERIOD OF THE STANLEYS.

The first mention of the word 'scholar' is in an order by the King of Man, in the year 1403, recording the grant to "Luke Macquyn scholar' of certain portions of land called 'Particles,' which lands were appropriated to the use of 'certain poor scholars, and which were given, confirmed and conceded perpetually to the scholars by our predecessors .... to have and to hold to the said Luke . . . as long as 'he shall remain a scholar, for the benefit of the church.'(10)

'The Particles' set apart by the Kings of Man, probably by Olaf I in the 12th century and his successors, were tracts of land adjacent to churches, where the scholars could subsist while they were students.

This long-continued educational foundation — for such it must have been — was cruelly destroyed by the second Sir John Stanley. He it was who, in 1418, caused the Prior of Whithern, the Abbot of Furness, the Abbot of Bangor and Sabal, and the Prior of St. Bede in Copeland, to lose their temporallties in Mann. In 1429 he defrauded 'the poor schollars,' and the lands called 'Particles' were ' dealt into other uses,' namely, he took the revenues himself. This Stanley, by modern standards, behaved badly, but by the canons of the day his conduct was perhaps normal.

How the 'poor Schollars' fared after their patrimony was taken into the Lord's hands we do not know, but it can be certain that from 1403 to the foundation of Bishop Barrow's Free School in Castletown, in 1667, there must have existed more than one school in which were trained the clerics of the church, and in which, with difficulty, was kept burning the lamp of learning.

In the Harleian Collection, in the British Museum, there is a very interesting indenture, dated in the year 1503. In this John, Abbot of Rushen, bound himself to pay the sum of 13s. 4d. yearly towards the allowance of John Darse, who was indentured to serve for six years as a scholar under William Parke, of the City of Chester. 3

The master was to teach his pupil music, so that when his apprenticeship of six years expired, he would be sufficiently skilled in his profession in the Monastery of Rushen. The master's prime duty was to, impart. to the student the mysteries of vocal and instrumental music, ' to syng prykketsong, discant of all manner mesurs, syng upon a pryksonge fawburdon, to counter of every mesur, and to set a songe of three parts, four or five substancyally, and also to play upon the organs any manner playsong or prykket- songe, two parts or three, and to make playne and schew him ' the secretts of speed of techynge and instruccyon . . . in the ' best manner and most speedfull he can.'(11)

Darse's office was doubtless to be that of precentor, one to lead the singing during the services. The office of singer, monitor, or precentor is found in references to similar foundations in other early writings.

THE REFORMATION.

The effect of the dissolution of Rushen Abbey and of the Nunnery in 1540 had a serious effect upon learning. While the ecclesiastical power predominated over the civil power there was certainly an advantage in regard to scholarship. We know at least that the former were, generally speaking, more cultivated and humane than the latter.(12)

In many parts of England, after the religious houses were dissolved, the powerful feudal lords founded schools, and learning was thus carried on. In the Isle of Man, after the dissolution of Rushen Abbey and the Priory of Douglas, scholarship could only have been kept alive with the greatest difficulty. It received no encouragement from the ruling Derbys.

In the year 1610 the very considerable lands of the Monastery of Rushen came into the hands of William, Earl of Derby. One-third of the Abbey tithe had originally been set apart for the education of youth and the relief of the poor. Like his ancestor who, in 1429, captured the land called Particles, the patrimony of the 'poor Schollars,' Earl William and his successors diverted this tithe to their own use, and the cause of education must thereby have been almost extinguished.

And again, from 1644 to 1651, Earl James, the Great Earl, so-called, who suffered death by execution in the Commonwealth days, for seven years abstained from appointing a Bishop. The revenues of the Bishopric were, according to Mr. A. W. Moore, spent by the Earl on his household and his garrisons. (13).

I have gone to some pains to discover any instances of a reigning Stanley having founded a school, made a grant of money or land for educational purposes, or any act having for its object the encouragment of learning. I have failed to find a single instance, even of the most trivial character, during the whole of their long lordship, from 1405 to 1736. During three and a half centuries we have no record of any of them enriching the religious or educational side of Manx life.

On the other hand, Manx history exhibits them in a high degree as harsh and mercenary. Spencer Walpole says: "From first to last they had been great feudal proprietors rather than wise sovereigns, and they had displayed the faults of a landlord rather than the virtues of a ruler.'(4) Scholarship under the Derby regime could only have been kept alive by the unselfish love of learning of a few poor clerics. But the fact that schools existed during these dark times 1s certain, although there exist few records referring to them.

So many documents have been lost in the Island that we have to rely upon the records of other countries for much of our history.

In the 'Irish Topographical Poems,' edited by O' Donovan; in Bagwell's ' Ireland under the Tudors '; in Meehan's ' Irish Franciscan Monasteries,' and other Irish works, there are references to an eminent Catholic Archbishop of Armagh having been educated in the Isle of Man.

His name was Hugh MacCaghwell (pronounced as our Cowle), he was born at Saul, in Co. Down, in the year 1571. The Irish records state that ' much of his youth was spent in "the Isle of Man, where he studied diligently, and whence 'Hugh O'Neill brought him as tutor to his sons.'

He had a remarkable history, being in turn teacher, and then soldier, knight, secretary, and finally ambassador of the Great O'Neill. Later, he joined the Friars Minor, and was Professor successively in Salamanca, Louvain, and St. Isodores. He also contributed an important share in establishing those last two centres of Irish education.

If, as seems conclusive, he was educated in Mann, his school days would commence about the year 1585, when the Monastery of Rushen had been dissolved some 45 years. . At what school in Mann, then, did he receive his education? In 1585, Henry, the fourth Earl of Derby, ruled Mann, and he was a Catholic. It is quite possible that McCaghwell's teacher was Peter ffarrand, who was schoolmaster at Castle Rushen at that date. ffarrand was schoolmaster, according io the records, in 1578 and in 1599.

We have no record, as far as I know, of any of the Manx clergy in the 16th or 17th centuries having been educated in any of the English or Irish universities.

On the other hand, we have a statement made in the Diocesan records of the 17th century that the clergy were educated locally. The historian Camden, who got his information from Bishop Meyrick, in 1588, says that the Manx clergy ' are generally natives, and have had their whole education in the Island. They are not anyways taxed with ignorance.' Blundell, in 1648, says: 'I did not converse with anyone but 'that I found him both a scholler and discreet.'

In 1655, Chaloner, who was Governor in 1059, writes: ' Considering the ministers here are generally natives, and have had their whole education in this Isle, it is marvellous to hear what good preachers there be.'

It has been generally believed that our first schools were started in 1668, when Bishop Barrow created the Academic foundation, and which ultimately ended in the creation of King William's College. But I find amongst the Records several references to schools and schoolmasters before Barrow's time.

The first mention of the word 'schoolmaster' which I have found is in a manuscript record of the Ingates and Outgates of Castle Rushen, under date c. 1578, when Peter ffarrand, schoolmaster, is set down for a salary of iiij li per annum. In addition to his salary, he had ' an allowance of xi li. for 'his dyet and lodging.' Probably he did not keep a public school; in all likelihood he looked after the education of the sons of the officials attached to the Castle.

In the Ingates and Outgates of the Castle Peele, under date 1599, I find a similar entry to that of Castle Rushen, viz., 'Sallary of the Scholmr. xx s.

It is seen there were schools kept in Castle Rushen and Castle Peel at the opening of the 17th century, and there were possibly schools elsewhere. About this time, 1610, Bishop Phillips, a Welshman, translated, for the first time, the Book of Common Prayer into the 'Mannish' tongue.

Bishop Phillips it was who frequently referred to the Island in his discourses as ' Ellan Sheant,' 'the sacred isle' A century and a half before Bishop Phillips' time, Thomas Stanley, Lord of Man, in a letter to the Pope, mentions that Mann ' had from the remotest times been honoured by the relics of certain saints, and that it had been commonly called down to the present day the Holy Island.' That was in 1458.

BISHOP FOSTER'S VISITATION.

In the year 1634, when Charles I was King of England, William Foster was Bishop of Sodor and Man. He made a Visitation of the parish churches throughout the Island in 1634, and sent out a long and searching list of questions for the vicars and churchwardens to reply to.

It would appear that a few schools at least were then established. One of the questions was: "Do any scholmr. keep ' schole without licence?' 'The answers are to the effect that none of the schoolmasters were without licences.

Under Kirk Malew: ' There is no schoole kept in our pish 'but one, ye Mr. whereof saies he hath his licence.'

Under Kirk Conchan: ' As for Schoolemaster we have none .. . but sometymes yong folks when they meett at a weddinge doth use tow much dancinge.'

Under Kirk Christ, Rushen: ' We fiynd ffindlow Cloage, who cannot saye his prayers and is putt off from the communion; nor will not come and lerne.'

THE BEGINNINGS OF THE ENGLISH SCHOOLS.

Castletown being the seat of Government, and in which nearly all the officials then resided, it is there where we would expect to find the first English school, distinct from the garrison schools of Castle Rushen and Castle Peel.

The earliest record of a school, however, distinct from the garrison schools, relates to the founding of the Clothworkers' school; in 'Peel,' In 1652, Philip Christian, Clothworker, devised two houses in Paternoster Square, London, in trust to pay £18 to the schoolmaster annually, ' and 40/- in providing 'books, pens, ink and paper for poor scholars.' Peel, therefore has the honour of having the earliest record of a public School.

Eight years after the date of the Peel foundation, namely, in 1660, I find a reference in the Kirk Malew Register, to a "George Harrison, schoolmaster in Castletown.'

The next master of the Castletown school that we know of after George Harrison is Samuel Robinson, who was in charge of the school in 1668, according to the Kirk Malew Register. In 1680 he became Vicar of Kirk Arbory, where he was 33 years. We know little about him except that his wife's name was Bridget Crow, and that he was suspended by Bishop Wilson for having officiated at a marriage in uncanonical hours, for having been ' disordered in drink and for arbitrarily repelling one of his parishioners from the sacrament.' Apart from the Petty School in Castletown, and the Cloth-workers in Peel, there were, in the year 1676, founded five other petty schools, one each in Douglas, Ramsey, Kirk Andreas, Kk Bride, and Ballaugh. Each, of these five schools received £3 per annum from what was called King Charles' Royal Bounty; but the money really came out of the rents of the Abbey Lands in the Island.(15) All the other parishes had schools nine years after, namely, in 1685.

BISHOP BARROW.

Bishop Barrow came to Mann in the year 1663, and his coming created a new chapter in the history of our schools. He at once realised the tremendous difficulties the Clergy were labouring under. He states, in a document dated 1666, that the salaries of the clergy were only about 45 or £6 a year; that their poverty forced them to engage in all mechanicall courses, even in keeping alehouses, to procure a livelihood. They had no money to buy books. There were no Scriptures in the Manx language, and the manner of officiating in their churches was by an extemporary translation of the English Liturgie into the Manks language, and soe allsoe of the holy scriptures.'

THE FREE, OR GRAMMAR SCHOOL.

One of Barrow's first acts was to provide a salary for the master of the Free School at Castletown. Our first record of this school is in 1666, when it was situate on the Parade in the Market-place. Barrow made over to the master the revenue from the Impropriate tithes of Kirk Christ, Rushen, which then amounted to £30, and later became £60.

The first master of the Free School that we have record of was Henry Lowcay, who was in charge in 1671. He was also Chaplain at the Castle, and afterwards became Rector of Ballaugh (1687-1703).

Under the year 1673, in Henry Lowcay's time, there is the following entry in the Malew Register :— ' Daniel Colbyn, and 'Thos. Curlott, one of the Bishop of St. Asaph's Scholars, 'went to the rock to fish and perished ... being found 'beyond the fluking pool dry on the shore.' The boy Corlett was called "one of the Bishop of St. Asaph's Scholars,' because Bishop Barrow had just been translated to that See.

The second master of the Free School that we know of was John Shaw, clerk, who was in 1680 licensed to ' teach, read, informe, and instruct, in the study and reading of logick, philosophy, and history, all and every person and persons within the Isle of Man who shall . . . be willing or desirous to study, read, learn, be informed or instructed in the same.'

Denton, who wrote in 1681, and whose original MS. is in the Manx Museum, writes thus of Shaw and his scholars :—

'The Schoolmaster hath £60 a year sallery ... for reading prayers every morning at 11 of ye clock and teaching a Grammar School, and for reading logick and phylosophy to four Accademick Scollars, who are habited in black wide-sleeved 'goons and square caps and have lodging in the castle and a aallery of £10 a year a piece by a new foundation... .'

The third(?) master of the Free School was Mr. Gilbert Holt, who was appointed in 1680. A resolution come to by the Trustees of the Academic Fund in 1686 states:.-

' Whereas there hath been an allowance made of twenty 'pounds per annum for the maintenance of two schoolers out of this Island at the University of Dublin, and that to be raised and paid out of the profitts of the Tenements of Ballagilley and Hango Hull, which hath been for some years past been bestowed that way: And now that for wee, the Trustees appointed for the management of that concern, haveing taken into our considerations that it is not altogether so convenient to continue ye said allowance to send those of our Schoolers abroad, whiles they may now have the opportunity of attaining unto academical learn- 'ing, under the Tuition of Mr. Gilbert Holt, Schoolmaster in this Isle, whom we have now obliged to the discharge of that duty: . And therefore we have thought it very fitting, and accordingly wee doe hereby order, that the clear profitts of the sd. Tenements shall goe towards the maintenance of two Schoolers, viz., Henery Halsall and Jon. Woods, both of the Town of Castletown, who are hereby required to put themselves forthwith under the tuterage and instruction of the said Mr. Gilbert Holt, now Schoole-master at the sd. Town, to be educated and instructed in academic learning, whereby they may be qualified and ' fitted for the service of the Island: and to that end they are to enter into Bonds before their admission to serve in the Island after they are so fitted and qualified, and this to begin and take commencement from and after the Feast of St. Michael the Archangel, next ensuing the date hereof: and we further order and enjoin the sd. Schoolers at and upon their sd. admission, to put themselves in that suitable and deacent equipage and apparell as is proper unto them to distinguish them as students in this quality and condicon, always providing that the sd. Schoolers shall from time to time, during their continuance in .this study, be of good behaviour . . . and imploy their t'me studiously and carefully therein, otherwise upon their neg- lect therein, or upon any other just and reasonable occasion, that it shall or may be in the power of us or of as many of us as shall be then in the Island, to alter them or 'either of them, and to place in others in their stead, according as we shall find just cause or reason for the ' same.

' Given under our hands at Castletown this 24th day of " August, 1680. R. Heywood, Gov. FERD. CALCOTT,

'THO. NORRIS.
B. SODOR AND MANN.:

JON. CHRISTIAN, Arch. Dep.'

THE ACADEMIC FUND.

The most historic act of Bishop Barrow was to purchase from Charles, Earl of Derby, in the year 1668, two farms near Castletown, called Hango Hill and Ballagilley, for the sum of £105, and devise the revenues from them to the" maintenance and education of two Academic scholars at the University of Dublin for the space of five years, such scholars to return to the Island to serve in the ministry of the church there when required by the Bishop or Trustee."

Eleven years after the purchase of the farms — which were bringing in a revenue of £20 per year — Bishop Barrow (then Bishop of St. Asaph), in 1679, directed that three scholars instead of two might be maintained. :

The kindly act of Bishop Barrow, in 1668, was the beginning of King William's College, an institution of which, of course, we are all proud. But I think we would be prouder still if it would be more national in its character and ideals. The two farms which Bishop Barrow purchased in 1668 for £105 bring in, at present, a yearly revenue of about £600 to King William's College.

With the coming of Bishop Barrow, who was for a time Governor as well as Bishop, a long line of common- place Bishops was broken. Next to Wilson, Barrow is the most notable among the list of Manx prelates. During the eight years he occupied the See he did more for Manx education than any other man excepting Bishop Wilson. Apart from Meyrick and Phillips, he was the only prelate who had made his mark in Manx history since the days of the Manx Bishop Russell in the 15th century.

EARLY SCHOOLS AT KIRK BRIDE AND KIRK ANDREAS.

At a Convocation of the Clergy held at Kirk Michael, in 1683, Parson John Harrison, Rector of Kirk Bride, and Mr. John Christian, Curate of Kirk Andreas, for having caused "a constant and diligent schoole to be kept in their respective parish churches for the space of five yeares last past", it is consented unto by the Clergy that "the sume of ten pownes a piece" be paid to them

In the year 1085 Bishop Bridgeman (who succeeded Barrow in 1671) convoked the Clergy at Castletown, when the method of distribution of the Impropriate moneys and of the Royal Bounty of King Charles, namely, £100 per annum, was agreed to.

The arrangements made were:-

That all Clergy who had already a salary of £17 should rest therewith contented (it being thought a competence), without receiving augmentation.' (2) ' But such of the Clergy as had not soe, should 'be made up to seventeen pounds per annum out of these two funds... and that the moneys still remaining should go to the maintaining severall schooles to teach to write and read in such places of the Island as should be judged most convenient, it being also provided and injoyned . . . that whatever minister received any augmentation should he obliged to teach a Schoole in his parish under the penalty of forfeiting such his augmentation.

The Clergy at that Convocation of 1685 distributed among twelve of their low-salaried brethren a sum which gave them a minimum of £17 per annum, the acceptance of which made them responsible to keep a school in their respective parishes. Was there ever such an instance of unselfishness in the cause of education as this? This historic meeting of the Clergy was responsible for creating schools in the following parishes, namely :-

Kirk Christ, Rushen.
Kirk Arbory.
Kirk Santan.
Kirk Marown.
Kirk Braddan.
Kirk Conchan.
Kirk Lonan.
Kirk Maughold.
Kirk Christ, Lezayre.
Jurby.
Kirk Michael.

This document shows that schools were already in existence at this date (1685) in other districts, for salaries were grarited to the following :—

Samuel Robinson was followed in the Castletown Petty School, in 1694, by Jo. Brice, who is mentioned as a school- master in Kirk Malew Parish Register. Brice was a surname in the 16th century in Kirk Christ, Rushen, and he was probably a local man.

BISHOP WILSON.

No one was allowed to conduct a school without a licence from the Lord Bishop. Here is a copy of a licence granted by Bishop Wilson in 1698 :-

Thomas, by divine permission, Bishop of Sodor & Man, to our well- beloved in Christ John Waterson of Castletown » health and Benediction.

Whereas we are given to understand that there is great necessity of an English Schooll being dilgently kept in the town of Castle- town. This is therefore to authorise you to teach Schooll in the old Chappel at Castletown, & to instruct ye young Children of the sd. Township in Learning and good manners: And for yo Kncouragemt.you shall receive yearly ye sum of five pounds, as also from each child you instruct (whose parents are of ability te pay it) you are hereby impower'd to demand six pence for each Quarter. Given under our hand & seal at Bishops Court this 23rd day of Septr. in the first year of our Consecration , and in the year of our Lord 1698. THO: Sopor & Man.

If any of the children you teach have occasion to be instructed in the Latine tongue, or in Write- ing and casting account, you are impower'd to demand nine pence a quarter from all such at their parents be of ability to pay it) tho' six pence onely from others. T. S. & M.

13th Oct., 1698. Exam. per me, J. Woods, Reg. Ep.

Thomas Wilson was consecrated Bishop of Sodor and Man in 1697. In 1608 he was engaged in erecting a new St. Mary's Church in Castletown market-place, and in order to get sufficient room for the new church, he purchased from Thomas Looney, a carpenter, the old school premises which were up to that time used as a Free or Academic School. The Bishop arranged, at the same time, that the Free School should be transferred to the Pre-Reformation St. Mary's Chapel, which was fitted up as a schoolhouse, after the south-east part had been pulled down.

That was in 1698, 226 years ago, and the venerable build. ing has been used as a school ever since. I have a memorandum in Bishop Wilson's handwriting, dated 1708 in which he refers to the contents of his 'Money Bag'. He says

' Taken out (of the Bagg) to re-purchase the Petty School House in Castletown, wh. was sold wn. ye Old Chappell was turned 'nto a School, the sum of 2 lb. 19s. 00., which sum ' was paid to Mr. Tho. Looney as p. receipt,' etc.

It would appear from this that the good Bishop re-purchased Looney's old school premises on the Parade for 59s. in order that it should be continued as a Petty School, although the Free (or Grammar) School was situated only a few yards away.

DUKE OF ATHOL'S EVICTION OF THE CLERGY AND SCHOOLMASTERS.

Before the Monastery of Rushen was dissolved, in 1540, the Abbey tithe, which was very considerable, was divided into three portions, one of which went to the Bishop, another to the Abbey for the cause of education and the relief of the poor, and the thirt? to the parochial clergy.

This Abbey tithe had been granted by Henry VIII and his successors to various persons; but James I transferred it, 1n 1634, to James Earl of Derby and his successors.

On the application of Bishop Barrow this tithe of Rushen Abbey, afterwards known as the Impropriate Tythe, was, in 1666, purchased from Charles Earl of Derby. The purpose was the augmentation of the salaries of the clergy, the maintenance of schoolmasters, and the erection of schools.

The price was to be £1,000, and a fine of £130 every thirtieth year.

Bishop Barrow raised the £1,000, paid it over to the Earl, and, as will be seen, fortunately got a collateral security for its ' quiet enjoyment.'

In the year 1735 there was a failure of male issue to James, the tenth Earl of Derby; and the Duke of Athol (as great- grandson and heir-at-law of James, the seventh Earl) claimed and took possession of the Impropriate Tithes, notwithstanding the bargain which had been made in 1634 between Bishop Barrow and Charles Earl of Derby.

The Duke's claim in law was incontestable; but it was questionable in morality. He evicted the Manx clergy and schoolmasters from their revenues, and for years they were literally starving as the result. The Manx clergy and schoolmasters had, perforce, in 1742, to bring a suit against Edward, the then Earl of Derby, who had come into possession of the English Derby estates, for compensation out of the collateral security given to Bishop Barrow by his ancestor three generations before, and, in 1757, after long, protracted, and painful delays, lasting 22 years, the clergy and schoolmasters won their case and secured their rights.

The average salary of the clergy was less than £17 per annum, and the schoolmasters £8, and the Duke of Athol was mean enough to attempt to take this amount from them.

The action of the Duke of Athol in, evicting the Manx clergy from their livings for 22 years is not a creditable one. Legally, he was within his right in claiming the tithe, for the reason that the very same title which made the Duke Lord of the Isle legally made him also owner of these tithes. In any event, his attitude to the clergy was a heartless and sordid one.

However cruel and grasping the Derbys had been, the Atholls proved to be still more heartless and avaricious. Spencer Walpole says: 'If this verdict be true of the ' Stanleys it is still more true of the Athols who succeeded them. If they are not deserving of the reproach, which still clings to their memory in the Island, they cannot be commended for any great action . . .' He then quotes Carlyle: ' Worse men there have been, and better; but to thee also was allotted a task of raising the wind and the winds--- ' and thou hast done it.'

DR. CROWE, BISHOP OF CLOYNE.

The career of Dr. Charles Crowe, one of the Lezayre family of Crowe, is an illustration of the existence of scholarship in clerical families in Man. Charles was born in 1660 in the home of the Vicar of Jurby. His grandfather, great-grand-father, and great-great-grandfather were Vicars of Lezayre.

Charles was taught classical and academic learning in his home, and when he was 20 years of age he went to Ireland and took a clerical post, afterwards becoming headmaster of St. Patrick's School, in Dublin, and at the age of 42 he became Bishop of Cloyne. Charles Crowe must have secured his education entirely at home; for we have no record that he was ever a student in the Castletown Academy.

DOUGLAS GRAMMAR SCHOOL.

The earliest educational endowment in the town of Douglas is that of a sum of £250 Irish, given in the year 1706 by the Trustees of the Academic Fund. The amount was ' for and towards the mantenance of a Chaplain and School-master tn the town of Douglas.' ,

The first master was William Walker. Perhaps a few particulars of the career of this great figure in Manx religious life will be interesting. He was the son of a poor widow living in Castletown, though he was born in Ballaugh in 1670.

He became one of the first students of the Barrow foundation through a peculiar and fortuitous accident. When he was 12 or 13 years of age he was employed as a lad on Balladoole farm. By some means, he had already learned to read. In the harvest time it was the lad's job to drive the horse with the empty cart to the corn field. One day, while sitting in his empty cart, he took his book out-of his pocket and began to read with such profound attention that the horse, taking advantage ot the inattention of the driver, ran furiously down the lawn before Balladoole House. Mr. Stevenson, who was a member of the House of Keys and afterwards Speaker, saw the whole incident, and stopped the runaway horse.

The little reader still had the book in his hand. The master, instead of rebuking the boy for neglect, said: ' Since thou art 'so fond of reading, thou shalt have enough of it.' Accordingly, the next day he sent the boy to the Academic School. This was in the year 1692.

Young Walker made remarkable progress in classical and academic learning, and eight years after, in 1700, he was ordained and made first master of the Douglas Grammar School, although he was two years below the canonical age. In 1712 he became Vicar-General and was the chief confidant of Bishop Wilson. He, along with Bishop Wilson and Vicar- General Curghey, was imprisoned illegally by Governor Horne for nine weeks, and spent with them his time in the cells in Castle Rushen translating the Scriptures into the Manx language.

The degree of LL.D. was conferred upon him in London. He died Rector of Ballaugh, and in his will, dated 1729, he remembered the cause of education. He bought four acres of land for the use of the schoolmaster of the parish in perpetuity and gave a sum towards the building of a dwelling-house for the master. A fine new church-hall was, in 1910, erected in Ballaugh Village with monies partly derived from Dr. Walker's benefaction; but it is regretted that no indication is given on the building that it was made possible by the charity of Dr. William Walker.

THE FIRST EDUCATION ACT IN 1703.

In an age when the advantages of education had obtained no public and little private recognition in other parts of the British Isles, the Manx Legislature, urged by Wilson, strenuously endeavoured to establish schools in every parish. At the early date of 1703 the Manx Legislature passed a very remarkable Statute, providing for compulsory education, I believe, long before England did. This important Statute is worth quoting. It provided that

for the promoting of religion, learning, and good manners, all persons shall be obliged to send their children as soon as they are capable of receiving instruction to some petty school, and to continue them there until the said children can read English distinctly. . . . and that such persons who shall neglect ... shall ... be fined in one shilling per quarter to the use of the schoolmaster .... And for the further encouragement of the Schoolmasters, they shall respectively receive, over and above the sallarys allowed them, Sixpence quarterly from the Parents of every child that shall be taught by them to read English and Nine- pence quarterly from such as shall be taught to write,'

The Clergy continued to be responsible for the organising of the schools, and they were bound to visit the schools in their own district the first week in every quarter and take an account in a book of the improvement of every child, to be produced to the Bishop when required. The hand of Bishop Wilson can be seen through all this. He was the hfe and soul of the educational movement, and he inspired the clergy with his own enthusiasm. He even regulated the school hours, which began at seven in the summer and eight in the winter. There were prayers every morning and evening with the collects. Every evening the master was to give the children a short charge to be sure to say their prayers before they went to bed and as soon as they rose; to be dutiful to their parents, civil and respectful to all they met; to be careful not to tell any manner of lie, nor to take God's name in vain.

To show that the Education Act of 1703 was promptly put into operation, here is an illuminating extract from the Kirk Marown Presentments of 1704, taken from the Diocesan Registry Papers in the Manx Museum :-

Presented for not sending their children to schoole according to the Act of Convocation: Wm. Cottier, Nich. Kewley, Wm. Kelly, James Kelly, Gilbt. Kelly, Wm. Moore, and Jon. Moore. 'To reform forthwith sub pond 5s, apiece ad usum domini,— Thomas Clucas, Jon Clucas, Jon Cottier, Wardens.

THE OLD PUBLIC LIBRARIES.

My sketch would not be complete without some reference to the old Public Libraries. The first record of a public hbrary in the Isle of Man is in the year 1669, in the episcopate of Bishop Barrow, when the Trustees of the Academic Fund gave the sum of £4 8s. 84d. towards fitting up a new library in Castletown.

Records as to this library are very scanty. In 1693 Governor Sacheverell wrote a letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury stating there was £200 in hand for the building of a library; mentioning further that they required 'convenient lodgings for the Academic youths, who are forced to diet in public-houses in the town.'

In all likelihood there were large numbers of books more or less publicly owned in Castle Rushen and other places in the town. Judging from the number and costly character of the books known to have been in the library, it must have taken many years in which to collect them.

About the year 1705 Bishop Wilson made an agreement with the House of Keys to erect a new library in what is now known as Parliament Square, Castletown. There were to be two floors, the lower floor to be used by the House of Keys as a Chamber, and the upper floor to house the library, Within recent years there have come to light a full and interesting record of the building of the hbrary and a statement of its cost. Also, a complete catalogue of the library, which is most interesting.

These documents bear evidence that an earlier library had existed in Castletown, the site and date of the founding of which are unknown. There is the following entry in the accounts of the building of the library, on the receipts side: -

From Mr, Christian of Lewaigue for the hangings of the old library, £1 10s.

Mr. Christien was probably Speaker of the House of Keys, for he was acting for them in purchasing the hangings. It seems clear that the hangings were in use in the older library, and the members of the Keys required them for their new chamber. :

When the new library building was erected, in 1706, the House of Keys contributed £20, and took the ground floor as a meeting chamber, the library being housed on the floor above.

Since writing this I have found a curious document among the Diocesan Records in the Museum, which throws an interesting light upon the older library, which, it appears, was in Castle Rushen. The document is well worth quoting :-

Whereas upon a Review of the Catalogue of the Books belonging to the Public Library in Castle Rushen, a great number are found wanting, wch. books are supposed to be in the hands of such persons as have borrowed them, some whereof are mention'd in a certain book formerly kept in the said Library for that purpose.

This is, therefore, to require all persons who have any of the sald Books in their custody, that they restore them to the Revd. Mr. Makon at or before the first day of March next, under penalty of incurring the severest punishment the. law provides in such eases; forasmuch as any book that, upon search or inquiry, shall be discovered, or not brought in by the above limited time, shall be reputed stollen, and the offender punished accordingly.

And to the end yt. none may plead ignorance hereof, the ministers of the respective parishes are to publish this Order in their parishe churches two Sundays suecessively, and return Certificates to the Episcopal Registrar.

Given under our hands this 20th of January, 1708.

THo: Sodor & Man. Robt. Mawdesley. Exd. p. me, J. Woods, Reg. Ep.

Here is the Vicar of Jurby's cartificate in reference to the Bishop and the Governor's Order :-

I do hereby certifie to have publish'd the within Order two Sundays successively and have made inquiry throughout the whole parrish of Jurby, but can hear of no such books as is within menconed; all wch. I do assert for truth, as witness my subscription this 14th ffeb., Ao. 1703/4. JO: CHRISTIAN.

A hundred years after the building of the new library, viz., in 1818, the roof was in a bad state of repair, and the books were in danger. The House of Keys, in consideration of a further payment of £20, took possession of the whole building. The library was then transferred to the Free Grammar School. The books — then reduced to the number of 1,100 volumes — were in a bad state, and £20 was expended by the direction of the Bishop in re-binding.

When King William's College was erected, in 1833, the Castletown library was removed to the new building. The great fire which occurred at the College, in 1844, unfortunately destroyed the library and the whole of the valuable books which had been gathered together nearly a century and a half before.

There were a large number of old and rare and valuable volumes. We have, in the Museum Library, the catalogue prepared in the year 1716 by the Rev. John Woods, who was the first of the Academic students. It is a skilfully prepared catalogue of nearly 1,000 volumes. 'They are chiefly classics in Latin, Greek, Hebrew, historical and biographical works, theological disquisitions, sermons, and ecclesiastical law and practice. There were no less than 440 in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, which fact indicates at least a high degree of scholarship in those who used the library.

Amongst the list of British authors were works by Heylyn, Bacon, Camden, Baxter, Whiston, Hobbs, Herbert, Hooker, Holinshed, Dugdale, Hakluyt, Chaucer, and Herrick. In the list there are quite a large number of books which, if put under the auctioneer's hammer, would bring very high prices to-day. From the point of view of the vendor of antique books, the Castletown Library of 1706 was worth many thousands of pounds. In its extent, variety, and value, it would have taken rank with some of the best libraries of the time in England.

So that the fire which destroyed them while deposited in King William's College, in the year 1844, was a greater calamity than was realised at that time.

Another considerable library was founded at Douglas by Bishop Wilson about the year 1700. It was added to by Bishop Hildesley and the Rev. Philip Moore, the Chaplain of St. Matthew's, who was also the Grammar schoolmaster.

There is in the Museum a catalogue, made in 1722 by Philip Moore, of this library, amounting to about 250 volumes.

All these books have long ago been scattered, and, in all likelihood, the most of them destroyed.

There is one entry in the catalogue to which I must refer. It reads: 'Five bundles of original MS. of the Manx Scriptures corrected per M.C. and P.M. to be preserved in case of another edition.' M.C. and P.M, were Matthias Curghey and Philip Moore, who were largely responsible for the translation and publication of the first complete Scriptures in Manks

Following on the founding of a library at the Douglas Grammar School, about 1710 Bishop Wilson organised libraries in every parish, under the control of the Clergy. We have in the Museum the catalogues of most of them.

In 1734 the Tynwald Court made regulations for the preservation of the Libraries; but during the last 200 years the books have all been scattered and probably lost.

My review of Early Schools and Scholarship must close at the opening of the 18th century, when elementary education became the privilege of all Manx children, long before the privilege became general in England. To the enthusiasts who made this possible, the ill-paid Clergy and Schoolmasters of the time, our homage is long overdue.

I trust that my review has been of some interest. The subject is primarily of an academic nature. But it has a secondary interest of practical importance. In labouring to advance and spread a knowledge of the Past we are doing our share in helping to lay well and truly the foundations on which future generations will build.

Footnotes

(1) Douglas Hyde, Celtic Congress, 1921, p. 46.
(2) O'Curry, p. 590.
(3) Skene, : Book of Lismore,
(4) Hyde, 'Lit. Hist., p. 196.
(5) Ibid.
(6) Cormae's Glossary.
(7) Skene's 'Scotland,' p. xliui.
(8) Jour. Brit, Arch., vol. 48,
(9) Skene, vol. ii, p, 428,
(10) Manx Soc., vol. vii, p. 295.
(11) Manx Soc. vol. ix. p. 25,
(12) A. W. M., p. 208,
(13) A. W. M., Dio. 8. & M., p. 145,
(14) ' Home Rule,' p. 246,
(15) Manx Charities, p. 2.